Broken to Silence Adoption
by nojudging15
Summary: Adopted from DargonAce1999. Danny is tortured by the GIW for a year before escaping. When he does, the world has changed quite a bit; he must now deal with a ghostly tyrant, emotional pain and a...nice fruitloop? give it a try! slight DxS also Vlad/Danny- Father/Son bonding. Rated T because of Danny's torture and my paranoia.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey I'm Madi, and before I get berated with safety warnings, that's NOT my real name. Anyway, I just wanted to say "hi!" also, I would like to thank DragonAce1999 for letting me adopt her story. Oh! and my beta reader DarkFoxPriestess! So helpful! :)**

** This is my first story, but I didn't really write this chapter, this was mostly written by DragonAce with a few edits on my part to make it work with the story plot I had in mind. So even if you already read her version of this chapter, I would give this a gander :) Enjoy!**

**Broken to Silence**

A Danny Phantom Fanfiction

**.: Chapter One - My World, Shattering :.**

I do not own Danny Phantom at all.

* * *

_Danny's P.O.V._

I hissed in pain as I landed silently behind a pile of rubble that used to be part of the GIW lab I had been stuck in for so long. I welcomed the fresh, cool air of night time, but that meant that the green fire consuming the lab was very noticeable. In addition, I was hurt.  
I touched my chest gingerly, quickly retracting my fingers when pain blossomed from the contact.

"Hurt" was an understatement.

Wailing lights came closer as people gathered. I summoned the energy to fly off again, wincing as my sore body protested.

I needed help.

* * *

_I could only scream as the pain ripped through me, the arcing lights of electricity racing throughout my body. The torturers - sorry, "scientists" - felt nothing for me as I writhed, trying to escape the inescapable._

_"Okay, I think that's good enough. We can start the dissection now."_

_I couldn't hold in a whimper of pain as they injected me with some sort of sedative that paralyzed me. The liquid burned as it traveled through my veins, freezing every muscle, every cell it came in contact with._

_The next few hours were a blur. I'm glad. I don't want to remember. The wounds are enough._

_However... One thing burns itself into my head, forcing itself into my memory, and refusing to budge._

_The pain..._

* * *

I glanced around his house, but it was dark. His room, abandoned. Where was he? Tucker, my best friend, was not in his house. Maybe he was at the Nasty Burger...? I prepared to push off again, wincing when my arm turned intangible a moment too late and ran into the side of the wall.

_No,_ I decided. _I need to get help first... I don't think I'll make it to Nasty Burger, and Tucker might not even be there... Not my parents, they're still after my ghost form persona... What about... Sam?_ My mind made up, I quickly shifted directions and headed to Sam's house, silently praying that the trip would be smooth.

* * *

_"This is the perfect time to try out our new toy, hmm?"_

_My head still spun from being kicked, my neck burning where the whip had laced it. I struggled to locate and identify the voice, but my headache kept snatching my attention. What was going on? I had no clue._

_"Yes, and if it works to the extent we want it to, we don't have to worry about that horrible screaming it does."_

_My mind vaguely registered 'horrible screaming' and somehow managed to connect it to my Ghostly Wail before all logic fell apart again, battered by the pain humming through every nerve in my body._

_I remember twisting, vainly attempting to get away before the whip cracked down on my back and a stern voice ordered me to still. My head was roughly pushed into some sort of cube, where wires automatically located and attached themselves to me._

_"Powering up the system... It should start now." The voice was faint and hard to hear, as I slipped from consciousness and into a living nightmare. From there, everything blurred again. What I remember... My worst fears, played again, again, again... For several weeks straight, I screamed myself sore, my throat burning within the first few moments. I don't know if my Wail was triggered or not, but it didn't matter._

_By the end of the torture, when the scientists finally powered down the machine, my screams had become soundless._

* * *

I phased into her house and knocked on her locked door twice, silently begging her to be there. When a faint "Who's there?" reached my ears, I attempted to say her name before remembering my inability to speak. So I phased myself through her door and stood unsteadily before it. Sam was sitting on her bed, eyes closed, hugging a pillow. I waited awhile for her to notice me, when she didn't show any signs of doing so, I shuffled my feet on the carpeting of her floor to get her attention.

"Wha?" she asked, opening her eyes. When she saw me swaying before her, her eyes widened.

"Danny!" she gasped, jumping up to catch me as my legs buckled. "Oh my god, Danny. What happened to you?"

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

_"Sam,"_I mouthed. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry Danny! I'm really, really sorry! I tried to tell them, but they wouldn't listen, and then, then..." she broke off in a sob as she cried into my shoulder. I let a single tear slip down my face.

She looked at me, eyes clouded.

"Why won't you say anything?" she mumbled, reaching out to touch my throat. I flinched and met her gaze. Her eyes widened a little. "No," she whispered. I shook my head. "They... You..."

_"I'm sorry,"_I mumbled without sound. Determination flashed through her eyes as she reached her bed and pulled out a first-aid kit.

"I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use this, but... well, we can't have you walking around with that much bleeding." She began removing my blood-soaked shirt and gasped. She looked like she was going to begin crying again before her previous determination was back and she started cleaning my wounds. She began talking again, "So, I'm guessing you have no clue what's happened?" She glanced at me, and I nodded to confirm it. "When you were...captured, Tucker and I tried to cover for you. Your mom and dad blamed Phantom for your disappearance when they finally found out, which was about two days later. Then they realized that Phantom wasn't showing up either, and that the ghosts were going out of control. We had to tell them, Danny. They were going crazy, creating weapons every day, getting ready to _kill_him. Er, you. Tucker let it slip by accident, and everything just went downhill from there. Then the Guys in White showed up. They wanted all the information your parents had on you, and when your parents refused, they left... but not without threats."

She stopped, concentrating on not hurting my chest. The Y shaped incision was still there, hardly healed at all. My healing powers had been required elsewhere, such as my broken bones. At least they were now mended...

"Tucker hacked into their systems and discovered something... I think he found what they were going to do. He texted me saying that we had to get your family out of Amity Park ASAP, or at least hide them somewhere. I was driving over to your house when it... Exploded..." Sam choked out the last word, fresh tears gathering in her once clear eyes. "I almost got caught in the blast... Just a few yards closer and I would've... But Tucker wasn't so lucky, he was already in the house... Danny, they pinned all the blame on you. They used some sort of holographic thing to make it look like you were there, and caused the explosion."

The confusion must've shown in my eyes, because she clarified.

"The Guys in White, Danny. They killed your family and Tucker, and they said it was your fault... They 'chased away' the holographic image, and claimed they saved my life... I didn't even get a say in it. Everyone hates you now, and they think you're in hiding because of what you did."

A moment passed by in silence. It was broken by her sob.

For a moment, nothing seemed real to me. Sam doesn't cry. There's just no way. It's as impossible as my family and best friend dying, as impossible as me being captured and tortured for a year straight... There's no way my voice was gone from screaming for a few weeks (or so) straight.

This is all just a nightmare...

...right?

* * *

_Nightmares... This place... A nightmare... My spirit... It's being broken, slowly... Painfully slowly..._

_Voices come again, and I know my brief break from them is over._

_Hands come and drag me into the flames of hell, the flames inflicting pain every second. It would be so easy for them to just end me, and then I would be free from this prison. I wonder if I will make it this time, or if I will be released from this nightmare._  
_...then again, I always wonder that._

* * *

"Okay, we have to get you out of here," Sam hissed after my chest was tightly wrapped. "They'll be all over you in minutes! And... Wait a second. What about your 'Fenton' half?"

I shake my head in a you-don't-want-to-know-and-neither-do-I kind of way. Still, she gives me a sharp look - triggering painful memories and feelings -mainly fear -so I quickly obey, shifting to my human form for the first time in a year.

During my year of torture, my ghost half had aged at the same rate my human half would've. So, it was easy to predict that I would've aged a little (obviously - I'm still half human!), but the condition of it could not be good... No food or water for a full year. The only thing that stopped me from dropping dead of malnutrition was that my human form doesn't require as much when I'm not using it... Personally, I'm surprised I managed to stay ghost throughout the whole thing.

Sam stares at my emaciated state for a while. I switch back quickly when I feel the intense weakness that comes with my human form right now.

The human part of me doesn't have many of the wounds my ghost part does. I guess it's something my body did to try and keep it alive. Still, all the major wounds, such as the large Y-incision, did transfer over in the form of scars. My clothes were in the same torn-up state as my hazmat suit as Phantom, red spots dyeing the cloth were green stains were before. I was horribly thin, and I could feel the effects of starvation and dehydration affecting me the moment the transformation took place.

Phantom was keeping Fenton alive.

Sam walks away for a moment, leaving me alone. Briefly, I wonder where her parents are... Recalling the Circus Gothica incident, I bet they were leading some sort of anti-Phantom protest or something. Who knows?

Sam returned with a cup of water and handed it to me.

I thanked her silently and brought the cup to my lips, slowly draining the cup. Receiving a drink for the first time in a long while, it took quite a bit of willpower to fight back the urge to gulp it down as fast as possible. Focusing on my drink, I didn't notice Sam fussing around until she slipped on a new black backpack and sat beside me. The water soothes my throat and I enjoyed the relief it brought for a few moments before there's no water left and I set it down.

"The Ghost Zone's the only safe place for you now," Sam tells me as she wraps a blanket around my shoulders. "Pariah Dark was released by Fright Night and took control about a month ago; a lot of ghosts are under his command. But," she added as a panicked look crossed my face, "There is a rebellion. Wulf's been coming every night to update me, and now he's coming to take you to the Far Frozen where everything is set up. Pariah hasn't gotten that far... yet." Sam seems to hesitate for a moment before speaking again, "And Danny, there's something else you should know about the rebellion…its mostly lead by Vlad."

I stare at her for a moment before mouthing, "_What?"_

"Yeah Danny, when you went missing Vlad freaked. He tore apart the entire Ghost Zone looking for you. It wasn't until after Fenton Works...exploded that we figured out where you were all this time." She looks up at me, and there must have been a wary expression on my face because she added, "Please trust him Danny, he's really changed in all this time."

With that she helps me stand, insisting that we move now. Wulf will wait until she shows up, and in order to ensure his safety, we'd better not keep him waiting for long.

I phase myself and Sam through the wall, and she leads me to the meeting place.

* * *

_What's going on?_  
_"What's going on?" a voice echoes my thoughts, but in a far louder and more panicked way._  
_"I don't know! Something blew up, I think!"_  
_"The system... Overheating?"_  
_"Maybe!"_  
_I hear the voices fade, their footsteps rapidly fleeing from the room in which my cage rests. Once again, the thought crosses my mind. What's going on?_  
_An explosion answers me, far too close to the cage._  
_I shrink away, bringing my hands over my head in a feeble attempt to protect myself._  
_Another resounding boom, this time even closer, brings down part of my prison's wall. My mouth is working, but no sound escapes me. Well, it's been fifteen days since my voice became unreachable._  
_Glass cutting into my skin brings me to lift my head._  
_The clear sheet of material that had composed one of the walls of the prison had shattered, and green fire - ghostly fire - flickered all around the room. The emerald flames matched my eyes as they advanced through the jagged hole._  
_I scrambled to my feet as the flames crackled, coming closer. Summoning the last of my energy, I ran to the hole, ignoring the burning pains of fire, and pushed myself through the hole, since the material was phase-proof._  
_The jagged edges cut into my body, but I push away the pain once more and pull myself out. Faint explosions register in my ears as I flee through the open door and dash down the hallway. Following my instincts, I select random turns whenever the path forks, refusing to slow down. I know the flames are chasing me, and I must keep moving._  
_Time passes. Only Clockwork knows how much._  
_Eventually, I find a hole in the wall. Praying that there would not be anyone there, I jump out, landing just as another explosion rocks the building and ground around it side to side. Stumbling, I struggle to catch myself before I fall. I jump up and fly for a few yards, just to a pile of rubble, before the lack of strength forces me to stop flying._  
_I hissed in pain as I landed silently..._

* * *

"Stop right there!" I flinch and shied away from the sudden noise that broke the silence Sam and I were sharing as we ran. Subconsciously, I hide behind Sam, trembling. She gives me a look of confusion and surprise before focusing on getting us away from whoever that was.

"Hey, I think that's Phantom... He's kidnapping Samantha!"

"It's Sam," she grumbles under her breath as we turn a corner - right into a huge group of armed people.

"Get away from her, traitor!" one of them yells as he fires a green-colored blast at me. It hits my chest and I open my mouth in a silent scream of pain as my hold on Sam's hand vanishes. I fall back onto the ground, my chest burning in pain.

"Wait, wait!" Sam's voice reaches my ears as she tries to stop the attack, but rapid footsteps tell me it's not working.

"_I didn't kill them,_" my mouth tries to say.

"What, cat got your tongue?" one of them laughs as he shoots at me. It hits half of my face, and from what I can tell of where the pain is, only my left eye is working now.

"Maybe he's too scared to talk! He was never a hero anyway," another shouts, and several agree.

"Murderer!"

"Traitor!"

"Ghost!"

"Ecto-Plasmic Scum!"

I can't locate Sam, and panic builds inside me. Then, a sudden half snarl, half bark breaks the panic. Hopefully, I scan the crowd as I raise a hand to try and ebb the bleeding of my head.

"Wulf!" Sam's voice cries, and the familiar ghost suddenly appears beside me after a moment, Sam on his back. He grasps my arm with a claw before tearing a hole into the Ghost Zone. Before we can go through, a booming laugh reaches my ears and Wulf looks up, snarling. "Dark!" Sam yells as several weapons shift from us to the powerful ghost king.

"My my, I must thank the Guys in White for this," he chuckles as my vision starts to swim. "They did a great job of experimenting on you, and another great job killing off the Fentons and blaming it on you. Your other friend was a bonus. How does it feel, Danny? To be chased out by the very ones you fought to protect?"

Sam's hand tightens around mine. When exactly she grasped it, I'll never know.

"Wait, what?" the crowd questions. I tap Wulf's arm, urging him to leave. Thankfully, he listens and jumps through the dimming portal. I slip through just as it closes, and I the last thing I hear is Pariah's' triumphant laughter and the confusion of the people.

Tears stream down my face, quickly freezing in the cold of the Far Frozen.

Minutes later, Frostbite found the three of us in terrible condition. Some of my wounds were torn open in addition to my new ones, and tears streaked my cheeks as I curled in a fetal position on the snow-covered ground. Sam had her arms around me, trying to comfort me as my world broke apart. Wulf was trying to stop my bleeding, but he didn't have any supplies.

"Come, Great One," Frostbite whispers to me as he holds Sam and I in his arms. Wulf follows as we head towards his village. "I think I have someone that may stop your tears."

The moment we step into the village, a black and white blur streaks towards us.

I gasp soundlessly in pain as a rib-crushing hug wrapped around me. Despite the pain, I was almost instantly comforted by the new presence.

Eyes bore into my own as my clone whispers a single word.

"...Danny..."

And suddenly, I wonder if maybe, just maybe, there was more of my family left than I had thought.

"_Dani._"

* * *

**Did you like it?! If you did (or didn't) leave a review, you have no idea how happy it would make me! If there's anything you'd like to see happen in this story just let me know and I'll try to fit it in. I'm flexible like that.**

**Also don't be afraid to yell at me for any writing mistakes or whatever you feel like yelling about...I'm a big girl I can take it. Plus in order to improve I have to know what I'm doing wrong :)**

**Finally, it may take me a while to get the next chapter up, just because I am a slow writer. Sorry, I just don't understand how some of the writers on here can get chapters up so quickly! It's crazy! **

**Sorry to be rambling!-Madi :)**

**(Leave a review!) PLEASE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Broken to Silence**  
A Danny Phantom Fanfiction  
**.: Chapter Two - Dealing with Deals :.**  
I do not own Danny Phantom at all.

* * *

_Dani's P.O.V._

His lips formed my name, but no voice came from him. Confused, I look up into his emerald eyes before Sam touches my shoulder.

"Dani, he's kinda... Hurt," Sam tells me. I gaze at her for a moment, processing what she meant. As my "cousin" starts to squirm, realization hits me and I quickly let go of him.

"Sorry!" I yelped. He gave me a forgiving smile before his face contorts in pain again and his knees buckle. Frostbite quickly picked him up again and rushed him off to the medical part of their snow village.

I gaze after them with more than a little worry, but I know that this is the best care Danny could ever get. I met Frostbite about two months after Danny vanished, when they tracked my ecto-signature while looking for the "Great One". It took a while, but we eventually understood each other and shared stories. Of course, then, we _all _freaked when we realized that he wasn't anywhere. We checked Skulker, Ember, Technus, you name them, we've checked 'em. Vlad had been the lead of it all, I hadn't trusted him at first, but when I saw how worried he truly was for Danny, I realized that he'd changed and deserved a chance. But, despite our best efforts, it wasn't until about a month before Pariah was released that we figured out where Danny was, and we couldn't figure out a way to get through the ridiculous amount of security.

"So what happened?" I asked Sam to distract myself from my guilt.

"Danny came into my room all beaten and bruised. I managed to patch him up a little bit, but it's obvious that he's been tortured. They also found some way to make him mute, but I'm not sure; he might just be too traumatized to speak..." She trails off, obviously lost in thought as she eyes at her shoes. She shakes her head to clear it before she continues, meeting my gaze again. "We went to meet Wulf, but some people got to us before that. Pariah" - I bristle at the name - "showed up, but all he did was taunt us a little before Wulf got us through the portal."

"Wait, what about Tucker and Jazz? And Danny's parents?" I asked. Sam looked away again.

"Listen, Vlad and I didn't want to tell you but…they're dead." My core nearly tore in half at her hoarse whisper. "The Guys in White killed them, but they put the blame on Danny. His ghost side, I mean. His human side has been missing for a while, so after they died, Danny Fenton was declared officially dead."

"He's only half," I grumbled. Sam chuckled a little bit, and I smile as well, glad that she lightened up a bit, but just as quickly as it left, her dismal mood returned.

"He's in a really bad state right now," Sam sighed as we followed one of Frostbite's people to one of their homes. "I'm not sure when he'll heal... They did terrible things to him. I can't even imagine what would make his voice go away, unless he screamed so much that... Maybe his Ghostly Wail..."

She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts.

I also think for a moment. Danny's smart enough to know when to stop using his Wail to preserve his power. And if he used it so much that he became mute, he would've reverted to his human form... Or would he? Would his ghost half prevent the transformation to preserve his secret and his human side?

I rubbed my temples as I walked with Sam to one of the village homes, where Frostbite's people gladly took us in.

* * *

_Vlad's P.O.V._

"Damn this frozen wasteland. I haven't felt truly warm ever since I got here," I muttered to myself as I walked through three feet of snow to my temporary living quarters in the Far Frozen. It had been a long day; I'd been speaking to many different ghosts about plans to take down Pariah Dark. Each was just as idiotic as the last.

I was in a fairly bad mood.

My thoughts then drifted back to Daniel as they always seem to these days. We'd fought just days before he disappeared. Although, his parents had been so used to his frequent disappearances (to fight ghosts) that they hadn't even reported him missing until two days after he'd actually been taken. It had been so stressful this past year, not knowing where Danny was, and now that I do know, I can't even help him!

I'd tried to break into the GIW facility a few days before Pariah took over, but the security was far too intensive. I immediately decided that I needed help to get Danny out without being captured myself, but now with Pariah in control, help was hard to find. I can't even imagine what he's going through right now.

I shook my head to get rid of the terrible images of Daniel's situation.

Coming out of my own thoughts, I finally noticed the unusual amount of commotion going on in the small village. Everyone seemed to be condensed around the medical center. We'd had injured ghosts come in for help before, but no one had ever made this much fuss about it. Curiosity drove me toward the large cave. Inside is actually fairly warm, and there are beds lining the walls. There are several sick or injured ghosts lying down in the cots, but that's not what I notice. I see Danny's Goth friend Samantha walking down a hallway with Dani, "Samantha?" I asked.

She turned around most likely getting ready to yell at me about the use of her full name, but she stops when she sees it's me. "Oh my God, Vlad you won't believe this! We've found Danny!"

I think my heart literally stopped for a moment before I mustered up the strength to ask, "Wh-What? Where is he? Is he…okay?" My voice fell at the end of my final question as I began to take in Samantha and Danielle's appearances. They're both coated in reddish-green blood. Their eyes are red and puffy obviously from crying and Samantha looked very sad despite having just found her missing best friend.

Sam began to ramble, "Frostbite is taking him to be treated… he's in really bad condition. He showed up at my house beaten, bruised, and bleeding everywhere. I'm positive he's been tortured. His human half is in bad shape too. It doesn't seem to have all the injuries him ghost half does, but it's really thin and pale and has hideous scars _everywhere,_ and I don't think they fed him anything that entire time_ "_

Sam breaks down for a moment and lets out a sob. Danielle rubbed her back and looked to me, "There's something else Vlad…" I nod to encourage her," Danny is completely mute,"

"…What? What on Earth do you mean Danielle?"

Sam replied to me, "They did something to him, Vlad. He just can't talk, and he's scared of everything. I'm honestly hoping he's better after he's been treated. "

"Well, can we go see him?"

"Frostbite said a few hours until he's conscious, but we can go sit with him; that's where we were headed. Wanna come? "

I nod curtly and we began walking again. We walked in silence until we reached a private room inside the cave. I assumed Daniel was lying on the bed in the corner of the room, but I couldn't see him through Frostbite who appeared to be waiting for us. He walked up to the entrance way before I could get a good look at Daniel. Sam asked Frostbite, "How is he? Do you know what's wrong with his voice?"

Frostbite somberly replied, "The Great One has been very badly injured. He had many cuts that required stitching and he's lost a lot of blood. Several of his bones had been broken a while ago and didn't heal correctly; we had to brake them again in order to straighten fix it. He's also severally dehydrated and malnourished; I'm surprised he didn't pass out before he did. We have him sedated, and treated for now. With his super healing, he should be fully healed in about 2 weeks, although it will take longer for him to gain weight; we weighed him at about 77 pounds,"

I'm sure I had a ridiculous look on my face but I couldn't help it! There could not possibly be a human being on Earth so cruel as to treat a teenage boy this way, ghost or not! Why, when I finally got my hands on those GIW twits I will make them wish they were never-

I was interrupted from my murderous thoughts by Samantha asking Frostbite, "And what about his voice?"

Frostbite replied, "Ah, well we won't be able to make an accurate diagnosis until The Great One is awake. We have several tests planned to get an idea of what happened to his vocal chords. Tell me, was he able to make any noise at all?"

"No, but it didn't seem like he was trying particularly hard or anything," Sam replied.

"Okay, we shall look into that when the Great One awakens. You may wait here if you wish."

Frostbite finally stepped out of the room and I got my first good look at Daniel in a year; it was not a pretty sight. He was wearing his usual blue jeans, except they were torn and nearly covered in dark red blood. His chest and arms were heavily wrapped in gauze-as well as his left leg-yet blood was already beginning to seep through. His hair was just flat out disgusting; dirty and shabby with none of the shiny tone it had had before. His yellowed skin was pulled tautly over his boney face. On top of everything he looked grotesqueness thin, even with all the padding covering his torso.

_Then there were the scars…_

It was clear that the GIW had shown no mercy on the poor boy. I couldn't even see much of his skin with the bandages! His face was even lined with a few dark pink or white scars lacing together across his left cheek. By simply looking at them one could tell that they were caused by something very sharp. All in all, Daniel was in far worse of shape then I had ever imagined.

I must have been staring, because it was Sam who brought me to my senses. She was shaking my shoulder lightly until I abruptly turned to face her. She gave me a small, sad smile. "I know. It's really bad. He'll be okay I'm sure of it. "

I nodded slowly before replying, "It's not so much the physical injuries that concern me. Danny's strong, he'll recover quite quickly I'm sure. It's the physiological damage he must have; no one can go through what he's been through this past year without some serious mental scars. "

Sam sighed, " I know."

_Danny's P.O.V._

I began to wake quite differently than usual. Rather than being suddenly and forcefully awoken by some horrendous nightmare or a form of torture, I woke up gradually and peacefully.

Paranoia immediately set in.

_Have I missed something? What kind of test is this? Maybe they're trying a new kind of drug? What if they're just trying to trick me into not struggling…no that can't be it; I haven't had the will or strength to struggle in a long time. _

I'm now aware enough to hear a light beeping noise which I realize is a heart rate monitor. I'm also fairly sure I'm lying on a bed.

This is weird.

The beeping begins to escalate and my breathing quickens. I am diffidently panicking now, but I don't open my eyes to reveal to latest horror that awaits me. Instead I try to control myself and sense the environment around me. Surprisingly I'm not in as much pain as usual, in fact I feel better than I have in a while. I must be in some kind of hospital. I wait a few seconds and listen closely; I can hear the breathing of several other people. Curious, I finally open my eyes.

I have diffidently missed something.

I'm lying in a hospital bed, in what I can only imagine to be the Far Frozen. The room is actually more of an ice cave, yet it's somehow warm. There is medical equipment all around the room, which mostly appears to be hooked up to me. I am covered in plaster and gauze and appear to have some sort of tube or wire on several parts of my body. Despite all this, what surprises me most is the silver haired man sleeping in a chair right next to me…Vlad? I rub my eyes to clear my vision, _what on Earth happened?_ Then as if answering my unspoken question, memories come flooding back to me. Running from the GIW base, finding Sam, Wulf getting us to the Far Frozen,…my family and Tucker.

Rather than dwell on that and risk completely falling apart, I decide to assess the state of my body, but before I can even do that I notice the desert-like dryness of my throat. I look around for a pitcher of water or something, but there is none. That leaves me with just one other option.

Vlad is sitting right next to my bed, and I could reach him to jostle him awake. I sit there for at least ten minutes debating whether or not to wake him.

_Sam said he was good now and that he actually cared I was missing._

_But, I don't really need to wake him up now; I can just wait until someone else comes in. Besides what if he makes fun of me, I don't think I could handle it._

_…_

_I'm _really _thirsty though…_

_No, I won't bother him, I mean even if he is nice now, what if he gets mad at me for disturbing him? He would hit me; maybe even take me back _that _place._

_But it hurts to even swallow…_

Finally my parched throat won; I reached out and shook the older halfa's shoulder. He awoke with a start and shot up, knocking his chair over with a loud clang. The noise caused me to flinch badly and cover my head. Vlad noticed and got this strange look in his eyes, almost angry. For the past year whenever I saw that look in someone's eye, I knew to expect pain. So I could not keep the scared look off my face. Seeing he was scaring me Vlad calmed himself a bit before asking, "Daniel d-did you think I was going to hit you?"

I only looked at him warily, still a little worried.

He sighed and continued, "I'm surprised to see you awake. You looked as though you hadn't slept in a while, Daniel." I nod slowly. Vlad looks slightly confused for a moment before realization hit him, "Oh butter biscuits, I forgot! Your voice is gone?" I cringe and nod again.

"Daniel, if I got some pen and paper could you tell me what they did to your voice?" I must have looked apprehensive, because he added, "It would really help us try and find a way to fix it," I sigh and nod. Vlad smiles and says I'll be right back. He turns to leave the room/cave thing and but right before he leaves I remember my reason for waking him up in the first place. Quickly I glance around for a way to get his attention but find nothing, so throwing any pride out the window I clap my hands.

Vlad turns around looking a little surprised, "Yes?" I point to my throat, but that doesn't seem to get the point across, so I pretend to hold a glass up and tilt it towards my throat. "Ahhh! Water, right?" Vlad asked. I nod my head rather vigorously and he pulls a bottle of water from a refrigerator I hadn't really noticed before. I smile at him gratefully and chug nearly half the bottle. Vlad smiles sadly before saying, "I'll be back with that paper, and perhaps something to eat?" Without waiting for an answer Vlad leaves.

I'm left to my thoughts. I look around and wonder where Sam and Dani are; probably off sleeping somewhere, they must be really tired.

After a few minutes I see one of Frostbite's doctors walk by the opening of the room and clap my hands to get his attention. It feels terribly rude but it does the job. The large creature walks over and smiles, "Do you need something, Great One?" I sigh at the name, I had almost forgotten about it. I look to the doctor and gesture to all the wires I'm attached to, praying he understands. He looks at be completely confused, until he suddenly perks up and says, "Here," handing me a pen and small pad of sticky notes.

I quickly scrawl, "_Can you get rid of some of these wires…please?"_

I hand the note to him and he reads it quickly before replying, "Of course Great One!" He reached towards me and I flinched back, curling in on myself a bit. He noticed and smiled gently saying, "Don't worry, Great One, I will not hurt you,"

I nod and allow him to proceed removing the wires, it takes a couple minutes, but eventually I can move a bit more freely and the annoying beeping that goes with my heart had shut up. The kind doctor then smiled and nodded before walking away, as he was leaving Vlad came in carrying a, regrettably small plate of food. I'm starving for Christ's sake! Can't I get a decent sized meal?

Vlad seemed to read my mind because he said, "We can't shock your system by suddenly giving you a ton of food after a year of starvation." I sigh and nod, taking my small plate of waffles and fruit. After I've finished, Vlad takes the plate and replaces it with the previously mentioned pad of paper. "So Daniel, are you ready to tell me a bit about what happened to you?"

* * *

**Well, I'm the worst aren't I? I didn't even write all of this. Just the stuff after Dani's POV. Really, I'm sorry. I feel awful. I know I hate it when authors do that. My only defense is that writing is more of a hobby for me and I'm an incredibly busy person. Still that's no excuse, I promised I would take good car of this story and I haven't done that so far. I promise to try harder in the future! Just try and remember I have a life...**

**The thing is, future update are probably going to be significantly shorter. It's just too daunting a chance to tell myself that I need to write 6 or 7 pages of a story. So to summarize future updates will be quicker, but shorter.  
**

**Thanks for your patience,**

**-Madi**

**P.S. reviews please, even though I don't deserve them**

**P.S.S. Go Ravens!**


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